


Hero Killer Joker

by CinnamonZor



Series: ShuHaru Week 2019 - A Fool for the Empress [1]
Category: Persona 3, Persona 5, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, Persona Series
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crossover, Everyone Hates Kamoshida - We've Established That, Gen, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, Leader Talk, Minako and Akira are bros, Pre-Relationship, Shipper Minako
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-09 11:18:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18637072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CinnamonZor/pseuds/CinnamonZor
Summary: ShuHaru Week: Day 1 - HeroesThe Phantom Thieves and Minako attempt to rescue Haru and Makoto from Kamoshidaman. Along the way, the thieves' newfound friend begins to pick up on the gentleman thief's growing impatience to rescue them.





	Hero Killer Joker

Minako Arisato looked on curiously as the black-haired boy before her stopped in his tracks. She followed his gaze to the giant, chicken-like creature that stood menacingly over the streets of the labyrinth.

She noticed the way Joker's hand tightly clenched the handle of his sidearm, his silver eyes glaring with an intense malice and his mouth slightly curling into a small scowl. The leader of the Phantom Thieves' evident bravado started to crack as he seemed to be restraining himself from attacking the clearly dangerous enemy. After a few seconds' hesitation, Joker turned his head away from the F.O.E. and swiftly walked past to the next segment of the labyrinth's floor.

From then on, until they had secured the route to Kamoshidaman's location, Minako noted that Joker was behaving in a particular, yet subtle manner of irritability. Without fail, he would mow down any Shadow he came across, without showing so much as a hint of mercy. Granted, he had no reason to. They were Shadows, after all. Even so, he kept pushing forward through the labyrinth, determined to get as far as he could. By the time they reached the end of the dungeon, seemingly everyone except Joker was visibly exhausted and had been for the past few minutes.

Minako didn't have to observe for long to pick up on his teammates' feelings toward the situation either. She may not have known the gentleman thief for nearly as long as they had, but she could easily tell they noticed something was off about him.

As was her nature, Minako refused to just sit idly by without at least trying to help out in some way. And so, when everyone returned to the theater to rest up before taking on Kamoshidaman, the red-haired girl took the opportunity to inquire the rest of the thieves' understanding of their leader's unusually relentless attitude.

Akechi and Futaba provided the first pieces of the puzzle. Minako was already aware that Kamoshidaman was holding two of their teammates, Makoto Niijima and Haru Okumura, captive at the end of the labyrinth, and Akechi had noticed that Akira's strange behavior seemed to begin after the announcement that the two had been captured. Apparently his tunnel vision had become increasingly evident since. Futaba also mentioned that she was pretty sure the chicken creature that riled Akira up so much was responsible for their capture in the first place.

Minako had already figured this was at least the primary factor. He was concerned about his teammates. The thieves all were. Hell, Minako hadn't even met the two before and even she was worried. As a team leader herself, Minako guessed that he likely felt most responsible for their safety and would blame himself for their distress.

But even so, she had a nagging feeling there was more to it. Even in a situation like this, she knew she wouldn't have been so irritable and single-minded, which said something considering she was considerably more ruled by her emotions than the others had made Akira out to be. And even so, she'd probably feel more upset with herself than angry at the Shadows. It just didn't add up. The only possible situation in which she could imagine herself acting with such reckless abandon is if it happened to…

Shinji…

Suddenly, everything clicked into place. Akira wasn't just upset about his teammates' distress. He was probably most upset about which teammate was missing. And if his feelings toward whichever of the two captives were anything like her own towards Shinji, then she knew this was definitely harder for him than he was letting on.

The girl out of time searched the theater for a bit, unable to find Akira anywhere. She considered enlisting the help of Futaba's Persona when she heard a soft thump behind the counter of the empty ticket window. She slowly leaned over the counter and peeked inside to find her missing ally, lying against the other side of the counter, clenching his fist against the carpet in frustration.

"Uh, hey," she muttered, trying not to startle the boy. He turned his head upward to face Minako, the light from the hall reflecting off his glasses.

"Hey, Minako," he mumbled. "Need something? I can't really find any use for this place yet, if that's what you're wondering."

"Nah," she chirped softly. "I came to chat. Scoot over, would ya?" Akira stayed still for a bit, eventually complying and scooting himself a bit to the left with a sigh. Minako grinned in response, somersaulting over the counter and joining him on the floor.

"So, Minako," Akira started, getting back into leader mode, "was there anything in particular you wanted to talk about? I'm kinda well known for helping people with their problems."

"Again, nah," she replied. "I was actually kinda hoping to do the same for you." Akira quirked his eyebrow in response, giving his signature contemplative silence. "I know it's not exactly polite to butt in or anything, and you don't have to answer if you don't wanna, but is there any particular reason you're so hung up on saving Haru and Makoto?"

That got Akira's attention. His eyes widened a bit before he caught himself and went back to his composed façade. "Of course there is. Those two are my teammates. Some of my closest friends. You mentioned leading a team of your own. Surely you'd want to prioritize saving your own friends if they were in this situation."

"Of course I would," Minako confirmed with a small grin. "We'd be pretty sucky leaders if we didn't. Which is why it's kinda obvious that's not what I meant." Akira raised his eyebrow again. He probably knew what Minako was getting at, so she persisted. "I have this habit of relying on my intuition. It's pretty strong by now, and I can tell there's more to your persistence than just being a good leader. You see, on my team, there's this guy, Shinji. Shinjiro Aragaki. He's kinda anti-social and we haven't really known each other for more than a few months and he keeps trying to make me eat a 'recommended serving' of veggies every meal even though broccoli quite frankly tastes like a moist towel, but he's also the sweetest, most caring and thoughtful person I've ever met and if anyone kidnapped him I would seriously try to sic that crazy 'Thanatos' Persona on them."

"Uh, I think I see what this is about," interrupted Akira, still trying to fully process the swarm of word-vomit that was spilling from Minako's mouth, "but I'm also kinda having trouble following all that."

"My point is," Minako giggled, shifting into a softer tone, "that it's pretty obvious one of your captured friends is to you as Shinji is to me. You're going after them because it's exactly what you should be doing as their leader, but you're clearly hellbent on saving one in particular." Akira slightly averted his eyes as he considered just how certain Minako sounded in her deduction. "If you wanna talk about it, I'm all ears. Always helped in my experience. And I know I may not seem like it at first, but I'm super good at keeping secrets, so no need to worry about me blurting it to the others or anything."

"Akechi would be so jealous if he found out how much better you are at his job than he is," Akira chuckled, slightly exhaling from his nose.

"I'll take that as a 'you were super right, Minako,'" the red-haired girl teased with a mischievous grin. "Come onnn, who is it? Metal Gear or Featherhead?"

"Fine," Akira sighed, his companion's cheery mood infecting him too. "It's Haru. Happy now?"

"That's the musketeer one, right?" Minako asked, instantly imagining the two holding hands and gazing into each other's eyes. "Aww, that's so cute! Now vent. Vent and let your stress die in a fire. And maybe talk about her a bit too. No one else seems to know, so I'm like your only chance to get out those pent-up feelings."

"Well," Akira mused for a bit, "I guess I kinda ended up liking her way more than I thought I would. But then again, that's pretty common for most of my confidants." Minako propped her chin on the backs of her hands as she listened intently. Both her love of helping those in need and her inner shipping fanatic were having a field day in her brain. "When you first meet her, she's kinda timid and aloof. Aside from her hair, you probably wouldn't notice her much in a crowded room. But when you actually get to know her, she's one of the strongest, most dependable people you'll ever meet. She's had to go through a lot in her life, especially as of late, but even though she goes along with it for the most part, she's far from a pushover. Seriously, she's a total badass under that adorable exterior."

"Never pegged you for a gap moe guy," Minako teased. Akira gave her an unamused stare. "OK, OK, my bad. Just trying to lighten the mood. Go on."

"Anyway," Akira continued, giving a small sigh, "when I found out she'd been captured, I kinda freaked out. It's bad enough that two of my teammates are being held hostage by some fusion of Hyperion and my old, reprehensible predator of a gym teacher. I felt somewhat responsible for it. If I had just woken up sooner, maybe I could have done something to protect them from that chicken monster. Or if I'd chosen not to go to Mementos today and we never ended up here in the first place. If I had just done one thing better than I actually did or chosen something differently, maybe everything would have turned out fine." He took a deep breath and looked down at his lap.

"I know I shouldn't be so freaked out about this," he admitted. "I know what's done is done and we can still easily save Haru and Makoto. And even if it takes some time, I know they're both fully capable of keeping things from going south until we can. Especially together. It's just the idea of her being stuck with that… that fucking monster is cemented in my head. I know it's not actually him. We changed his heart months ago and there's no way he'll ever be the same piece of irredeemable shit he was when I knew him. But I just can't stop thinking about that so-called 'hero' being anywhere near either of them. And if things somehow do go wrong…" He trailed off, taking another deep breath. "If either of them gets hurt, I'd be devastated. Especially if it's Haru. If there was even the off-chance I could have prevented her from being hurt or killed by that thing and I failed, I'd never be able to forgive myself. Ever."

Minako gave him a moment to collect himself. She honestly never thought the suave, seemingly confident thief could be hiding all this fear under that cocky act he'd been putting on since she'd met him. But then again, she probably should have expected it. She had no idea how long Akira had known either of the two missing thieves, but she would feel the exact same way about Shinji being taken even if they'd only officially befriended each other less than a month ago. She smiled softly and patted her newfound friend on the back to comfort him.

"You won't have to go through that," she assured him. "I promise. We already got to where that delusional All Might wannabe is holed up. The hard part's over. All that's left is to kick his stupid, spandex-covered ass. And you guys have already proven you're more than capable of annihilating whoever stands in our way." She reached up and grabbed the edge of the counter above her, hoisting herself up onto her feet. She turned back to Akira, extending a hand with her typical cheerful smile. "Besides, once you do save the day, I bet a certain someone is gonna be real grateful for our heroics! Wink-wonk!"

"Did you seriously just say 'wink-wonk?'" Akira chuckled. "Futaba's gonna flat-out adore you if she finds out." He reluctantly grabbed Minako's hand with his own and she pulled him up from behind the counter, letting go once the boy was stable and leaping back over to the hallway.

"Don't just stand there, dude," she called over, starting to walk backwards toward the lobby. "We got a biker and a musketeer to save from the evil clutches of a poorly-written blockbuster! Time to gather the troops!" Akira chuckled a bit and followed suit, collecting the rest of the thieves and returning to the movie.

Aside from an unexpected surprise, the group's plan to take down Kamoshidaman went off without a hitch. The others were saved and rejoined the group, leaving the film for good. And on the way out, Minako couldn't resist a quick glance over at Noir as she cheerfully gave Joker extra thanks for rescuing them. An enthused grin broke out across the red-haired girl's face as she noticed the faint blush on Haru's face behind the brim of her hat, effects which remained on their respective faces until they returned to the theater.

As of that day, Minako officially had two missions in the mysterious theater: to help everyone return home safely and to work her magic behind the scenes as Haru and Akira's self-proclaimed wingwoman.

**Author's Note:**

> Minako and Akira being friends is a favorite headcanon of mine. Minako being a shipping fanatic is barely even a question for me lol. Anyway, hope you're enjoying this project so far! Feedback is always appreciated.


End file.
